Veteran Nigerian singer, Jazzman Olofin has bared his mind on the brouhaha generated over the exchange of greetings between 21-year old singer Ayra Starr and legendary juju maestro, King Sunny Ade.
Ayra Starr came under fire for the way she stood to give KSA a handshake as the septuagenarian stood up to greet her.
She has since apologised, blaming her actions on being nervous and not knowing he’s the one.
Some netizens however did not feel impressed with her apology, pointing out that she shouldn’t have called him Uncle as the veteran is old enough to be her grandfather.
Jazzman Olofin has now bared his mind on the incident.
He took to his Instagram page to write:
KSA WILL “FOOL” YOU ANYTIME , ANY DAY , ANYWHERE
King Sunny Ade’s humility and gentility is hardly something that is taught anymore, the new generation music scene is mostly full of rather pompous “self made superstars” who feel they owe nobody nothing.
The kind of KSA’s gentlemanliness is so rare and impeccable that any new generation artist who wants to emulate him will have to do serious learning in humility, politeness and simplicity.
I remember in the early 90s, when I snuck out of school (Unilag) to attend a party at Mobil Pegasus Club. On arriving at the dinner party venue, i was too shy to mix with the big men and ladies so I decided to chill first in a dimly lit corner by the entrance ( to get myself together).
So, as I was settling into the dimly lit corner I saw a man in a nice suit already seated there. Before I could figure out whether the man na the head of the security or bouncer wey go bounce me ( cuz omo boy no get IV 😂) the man suddenly got up from his seat, bowing to greet and welcome me. I moved closer to see his face in the dimly light corner and I froze in utter shock. Behold, it was His excellency, the legendary KING SUNNY ADE greeting me like that! 😳.
Confused, I quickly prostrated, greeting him with plenty “sir’s”. Noticing my confusion and my being star-struck,he smiled and replied my greetings pleasantly. Aahhh!! Baba set me up! 😂 😂😂.
“In the viral video going round online showing Arya Starr greeting KSA, one would notice that out the four men sitting on the couch ONLY the legendary King Sunny Ade got up (half way) to greet Arya Starr in his usual gentlemanly manner.
“Baba na legend of legends, baba no need to get up to greet ANYBODY, but Baba is an impeccable gentleman. Baba has seen it all and done it all in showbiz / entertainment internationally, but still Baba’s humility remains unchanging. Baba will always greet you well and proper. Period.
“My humble opinion is that Arya Starr (as a Yoruba girl), should be a bit careful of stretching out her hand first in readiness to shake hands when meeting elderly people, especially for the first time. It’s better to generally respectfully bow a little, bend your knees a little and let the elderly stretch out their hands first in their own willingness to shake hands with you.
“Anyways, our aunty Arya Starr has apologized and explained things. Anybody can make mistakes,( me sef inclusive 😊) .
“So can we all we move on and let the music play on?? 🎶 🎤 🕺💃🕺😄.
By JAZZMAN OLOFIN
